This getting older thing can be funny. Seems few of us want to do it, and our milestone birthdays often seem like millstones around the necks of our happy (or maybe it's just our longevity).It's stranger still when you consider, as this reasearch did , that it's those over 60 who are the happiest amongst us. Or at least they're the happiest amongst the Brits, where the research was conducted. From the psychologytoday article:"Research on the happiness of different age groups in the UK has found - surprisingly, it might seem at first - that it's actually the over 60s. This research showed that happiness levels are quite high in the 20s, then dip through the 30s and reach their lowest point in the mid-forties. But after 50, they start to rise, and continue rising through the 60s, when they become even higher than young people's. Similarly, a recent world wide survey found that, so long as they are in fairly good health, 70 year ...

I was staring in the mirror. Noting every flaw, every change, every thing I wished were different. I was picking myself apart - more observationally than negatively, and wondering how what I had once been had become this 33 year-old version of me now, when I found myself saying "wow, you don't look very good."

Just as suddenly and actually taking me by surprise, I found myself saying "it is what it is and you are what you are." And I smiled at my reflection, and walked away feeling pretty good about the me that I am and no longer comparing it to the me I used to be :-) {end story}

Truth, the happy ending here took us by delightful surprise. How's about you, Chestists? What do you see when you look at you in the mirror? However it makes you feel, why do you think you feel that way? What needs to happen or change for you to feel (even) better? Let's #discuss.

I just found a grey pubic hair! OMG, a-grey-pubic-hair. I don't have any wrinkles and have never felt old before. I've never wanted to get a Brazilian before. I feel old now. I am in shock. {end story}

Aging can creep up on you and then BAM there it is right in your lap. Do you remember the first physical sign you were getting older ~ even if it was puberty? Do you worry about getting "old"?

My dad is sick and probably not going to make it much longer at all. When I think about being in a world without him I get physically ill. I know it can sound strange to describe your father as your best friend. My dad is my best-friend though.

Growing up, there was nothing I couldn't say to him, tell him, share with him or ask him. My mom and I were close (she died 6 years ago) but my father and I have always been so connected. My husband loves him, and my children love their grandfather so much. He is such a part of our lives and my life that I feel so lost already. Who wil I turn to? Who will I share with? Who will listen to me and understand me the way he always has?

I know I'll always be his girl. I just don't want him to leave yet. I don't think I'll ever be ready. I know I'm not now. {end story}

Ever lose someone you were beyond close with? How'd you get past it? Have you been ...

The key to your life's longevity just may be your happiness according to research from the U.K. Talk about a marriage of qaulity and quantity, according to the study published here (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), "those who reported feeling happiest had a 35 percent reduced risk of death compared with those who reported feeling least happy."

And 35% ain't nothing.

The researchers came to their conclusions, which they shared with CBS This Morning, by tracking participants 52 to 79 years old for 5 years, finding that those who'd been the most positive on the first day of the study also were the least likely to die over the five year period, and those who were most "negative" were more likely to die.

If not for nothing, the lead researcher shared her conviction that "happiness makes a profound difference on overall health...(and that) literally, being happy saved their lives."

Well, the happy story has a hiccup we explore a lot here @OOC...what exactly are the keys to happiness? While no easy answers come from this research, they did point to things like ...

No one is ever going to accuse me of being easy-going; my teenager's favorite thing to say to me, these days, is "Geez, Mom, CHILLAX." (I am, I suspect, the only person with whom she uses that word, and the humor is partially because of that, of course.) I can be a bit persnickety, yes. A little high-strung at times, sure. I have strong opinions on many things. I'm okay with this.

One of the issues on which I cannot be bothered to feel strongly, however, is hair. Hair grows. No hair decision is irreversible; even if you're terribly unhappy with your choice, eventually you can do something else. It's just... not that big of a deal.

To me, this makes sense. To some folks who know me, though, I guess it was a little surprising when I let my young son grow his hair long. Or when I let my daughter dye a streak in hers. But to me, it was a easy way to let the kids have a bit ...

From 10 to 20, I was trying to be old. Trying to be awesome, sexy, popular, smart, and awesome (yes, I said it again). I succeeded in being moderately smart, popular with a very limited group of people, and fairly pretty but falling short of sexy, and not really awesome. I showed glimmers, but it didn't happen.

From 20-30, I tried to be superwoman. I tried to be powerful, sexy, smart, organized, efficient, loving, successful, talented, and amazing.
I succeeded in being smart, fairly sexy, pretty organized and efficient, mostly loving, and mildly successful. I was beginning to feel powerful. I worked my ass off. I tried hard to be everything to everybody. I managed to be a good daughter, wife, mom, teacher, player. What I didn't manage? Myself.

30-40 was pretty awesome and pretty friggin' awful. I was learning to be a mom, a wife, a professional. I went through some ...